Easy Cook: Skillet Zucchini and Corn Sauté

Everyone should have a couple of good zucchini recipes for the summertime. This squash is so plentiful and inexpensive during the summer months; it’s a great way to get fresh vegetables into a person’s meals. And cooking zucchini doesn’t have to be difficult. My recipe for “Skillet Zucchini and Corn Sauté” sort of sneaks the zucchini into the dish. It is turning out to be one of our favorite zucchini recipes. The dish has only a few ingredients, uses “one pot” (a skillet) and tastes great. Let’s eat zucchini!

Every year I grow zucchini plants in my backyard garden and this squash does pretty well. I always seem to have few zucchini that remain unnoticed under the huge plant leaves until I catch sight of them. This year, one zucchini took the prize — it weighs 3 pounds and is over 12-inches long. That is the equivalent to six zucchini recipes at our small household. So, I’m cooking lots of zucchini and trying out several new recipes.

Here are a couple of the large zucchini plants in my garden. It is easy to see how the zucchini squash can get lost under the leaves. And my zinnia flowers are having quite a stellar year in my summer garden, too!

.Cooking with zucchini

There are lots of ways to use zucchini squash in recipes and I don’t think I’ll have difficulty coming up with six recipes. Zucchini is firmer than yellow squash — it doesn’t have as much liquid in the pulp — plus it is milder than yellow squash. This adds flexibility in using zucchini. Sautéing zucchini is an easy way to use the vegetable. Let’s enhance the sautéed zucchini recipe by combining zucchini, onions and corn with a little basil for seasoning. Who doesn’t like corn? The zucchini just kind of sneaks in. Another recipe which I plan to post soon combines roasted zucchini and roasted cherry tomatoes along with couscous. We really like this recipe. Zucchini combines well with other ingredients in unusual ways such as a zucchini egg omelet or stuffed zucchini with tomato sauce and ground beef. Because zucchini is firm, you can make zucchini pancakes or fried zucchini sticks. My “Recipe” Tag has a link to all the zucchini recipes which I have posted over the years.

Recipe:

This week’s recipe is a very simple one using a medium-sized zucchini squash. I added onion and garlic for flavor and added a little jalapeno pepper from my garden for some “zip.” The seasonings are simple — salt, pepper and basil. For convenience, I used frozen cut corn rather than fresh corn on the cob.

The recipe is adaptable and you can alter the proportions of zucchini and corn according to your tastes. This is an 8-oz zucchini which measures 2 cups. The 12-oz package of cut corn yielded 2-1/2 cup. You can easily decrease the corn and use only half the package and/or increase the zucchini.

To make this recipe, sauté the onion in a small amount of oil. I recommend using a heavy, large skillet for this recipe. I added in a little jalapeno pepper which grew in my garden for some “zip.” Then add sliced zucchini and garlic along with the seasonings of salt, pepper and basil. Cover and let the zucchini steam on low heat until it begins to soften. Add frozen corn, stir and continue to heat for several additional minutes.

Just a couple of easy steps to make the recipe for a quick and easy supper side dish. Enjoy!